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Monday, 20 October 2014

Week Ahead: Can Apple, Microsoft, Amazon And China Calm Markets?

After the most volatile week markets have seen in years, investors will look to a slew of company earnings from major corporations this coming week to settle nerves — but will the companies involved produce the positive outlook that traders are looking for?

Last week, the S&P 500 fell for the fourth successive week amid concerns about a slowdown in the global economy, a European debt crisis that refuses to go away, and the Ebola virus.

Things got so jittery — with a global slowdown causing expectations of inflation to fall too low — that St. Louis Fed president James Bullard said that perhaps the Federal Reserve should consider delaying the end of its bond buying stimulus program.

With an eye on global demand, investors will fret over big economic news from China on Tuesday when, among other things, an update could show that China’s third quarter economic growth fell to the slowest pace since 1999.

U.S. existing home sales on Tuesday and consumer price data on Wednesday will also be watched closely.